Police fire at protesters as Uhuru Kenyatta sworn in as Kenyan president

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta has been sworn into office for a second term in front of tens of thousands who gathered in the country's largest stadium to celebrate what they hoped would be the end of months of election turmoil.

Police fire at protesters as Uhuru Kenyatta sworn in as Kenyan president

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta has been sworn into office for a second term in front of tens of thousands who gathered in the country's largest stadium to celebrate what they hoped would be the end of months of election turmoil.

But during the ceremony police fired guns and tear gas in other parts of the capital, Nairobi, as officers attempted to stop the opposition from holding peaceful demonstrations in memory of dozens killed by police and militia during weeks of election protests.

A witness said one person had been shot dead.

Police patrolled the Jacaranda grounds where a leading opposition group, the National Super Alliance, had urged supporters to gather to remember those killed in post-election protests since August.

Kenya's election drama meant months of uncertainty in east Africa's economic hub. The Supreme Court nullified the August election result, citing irregularities, after a legal challenge by opposition leader Raila Odinga, and ordered a new vote.

It was the first time an African court had nullified a presidential election, and Kenya's events have been closely watched cross the continent by opposition parties and leaders.

Mr Odinga and his supporters boycotted the repeat election last month, saying electoral reforms had not been made. Many opposition supporters on Tuesday were heeding his call to gather and remember those killed in the turmoil.

He has called Mr Kenyatta's inauguration a "coronation" instead.

Several regional heads of state attended the inauguration amid tight security as the country attempted to move forward, even as questions about electoral reforms lingered.

Mr Kenyatta was sworn in using a Bible that had been used to swear in his father, founding president Jomo Kenyatta, at independence in 1963.

Mr Kenyatta said his inauguration "marks the end, and I repeat the end, of our electoral process", and vowed to govern "for all".

He added that the elections "are now firmly behind us" and praised the resilience of Kenyans during the months of unrest.

- AP

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